You are here

Usenet

Appropriately enough, my posting, which was to the ut.general newsgroup (the general newsgroup at the University of Toronto) was a question about the ‘net itself (this was all before the Internet was called such):

Anyone who may be able to offer a concise explantion of the differences,
and similarities (as well as cross-overs) between UseNet, BITNET, NetNorth,
ARPANET and any other —-NET please do so… It’s got me totally confused !

There were no replies. I must have figured out the answer on my own.

The email address I used with the post — traill@utcsri.UUCP — is a good indicator of the era. At the time I was a volunteer with the Athenians Project at U of T, and this afforded me, somewhat unofficially, access to the whatevernet.

Interestingly enough, after that first posting, and a couple of others that summer, my next posting wasn’t until 7 years later, in November of 1992. This posting was to the venerable comp.dcom.telecom newsgroup, at that time moderated by the venerable Patrick Townson.

Comments

dave moses on December 12, 2001 - 14:57

or how about creating the email equivalent of your “home number”. It’d be subtley different from your “business number” like pete@reinvented.net… and you could give this one out to trusted friends and family… primo biz clients, etc. and you say while staring intimately…”This is my email address— my *home* email address, use this if you want to get in touch with me.” you lower your eyebrow a give them that winning grin and tada, baby! yeah!